MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Well, Santa found his way to Florida, although Bradley was worried as he woke up the first time at 12:30 and Santa hadn't come yet; but since he had forgotten to put out the milk & cookies I understood why. Needless to say, after the milk and cookies were put out, Santa found his way and dropped his bag along the way. Along with the bike, Bradley's excitement over his PSP is shown below.

We hope that everyone had a great Christmas!

The Case of the Missing Geese

First things first, the Orange Bobcats posted win #2 tonight with a 14-13 win over Purple. This was not a great game for Orange even though we came away with the win. We turned the ball over way too many times and gave up too many rebounds to the opposing team. Bradley played a good game, although he had picked up 3 fouls before halftime so he had to sit most of the third quarter. He hung in and finished strong, scoring 6 points and playing good defense, completing the game with 4 fouls. We had plenty of opportunities at the free throw line and shot about 50% - not bad for 9 & 10 year olds. We have three weeks before our next game so we'll be working hard to correct our mistakes. BTW - it is still a balmy 71 in St Cloud and it's 9:25 pm.

We have had requests to see our decorating so here are a few pics




Now, the missing geese. The story begins with our Scroogely neighbors next door who FINALLY got their outdoor decorations up on Sunday - better late than never. In the meantime, a "Warning" notice was put on their door about their negligence in this area. Soon after, we received a "Warning" to keep our geese in our yard, lest someone call animal control and have us arrested. So, Sunday morning as we are getting ready, TR informed me that our geese had been stolen. A little "canvassing" found the geese hiding behind various bushes and trees in the neighbors yard. Upon our return home Sunday afternoon this is where we found the geese...




Somehow, they ended up on the neighbors roof as part of their Christmas decorations. Unbeknownst to us, the joke was really on us and the neighbors as our other neighbors across the street were the ones who "stole" the geese and "hid" them in the neighbors yard.

Orange Bobcats - Win #1

So our basketball season is off to a good start with our first win 31-6. The boys played a great game - only had one person in foul trouble and it wasn't Bradley! Bradley played a very good game - scored 5 points and was a defensive force in the forward position. He also came through when a Technical Foul was assessed on the other team and went 1-1 on his foul shots. Since I'm coaching I definitely won't be taking any pictures so we'll have to rely on TR for those as the season progresses. Historically, we're not good with basketball pictures as the action tends to move fast and you get caught up in the game - not taking pictures. Thanks to Shay for coming out and supporting us last night. Stay tuned for next week's game update.

Parades, Christmas Decorating & Everything Else

So we had a good visit in Virginia for Thanksgiving - although it was cold. We were more than ready to get home to warmer weather. Naturally, after being away for a few days, things just seem to snowball and we had something to do every night (not that that's real different from any other week!)

We began our weekend decorating the flag football float for this year. TR worked hard all week preparing our scoreboard and cleaning his red truck in preparation for pulling the float. Our float contained our goal posts, with the ball sailing through, a "field' complete with snow around the field and, of course, our scoreboard. Not sure how they can top the float next year.

Now, of course, the parade went well but after, we had quite a good laugh. Bradley & Coach Chuck's daughter decided to play some football while we were undecorating the float. Not sure exactly who to blame, but the football ended up in the retention pond and Chuck made Katie go swimming after it - good thing it was really warm here! Now to make things even better, the big football game between Florida & Alabama was Saturday. About half of Bradley's team (including him) are Gator fans - but his two main coaches are big Alabama fans. Needless to say, the text that we sent to Bradley's coach after the game has not yet been returned.....GO GATORS.

On to decorating - TR has been also working on getting the outside of the house done. Perfectionist that he is, I have a feeling he'll be back on the roof this week as all of our lights are not pointing in the same direction. I'll post pictures of the house AFTER he has finished. Today I finally managed to finish the inside of the house. Also, a very nice surprise this afternoon - my car actually fits in our garage! I could not believe it when the garage was finally clean enough to park in!

Our first basketball game is this week. Unfortunately, I haven't been successful in arranging a scrimmage for our boys so we'll have a real test ahead of us. We'll post an update after the game.

Way Behind!

Okay - so my title can stand for multiple things. First, way behind on blog - second, way behind at work - third, way behind on everything else!!!!!

Sorry, but as some of you know, we are fast approaching the week of our National Convention for work. The good thing about this year is that it is here in Orlando so no traveling involved. The bad thing - it is next week!

First - football results (pictures to follow later). We were unable to unseat the Purple Champions. Unfortunately, two quick TDs put us too far behind to catch up with a final score of 21-0. However, Red still had an AMAZING season at 10-2 with both losses to Purple. We had the team over last weekend for a season ending party. All the boys had a great time and enjoyed the pool, tetherball, basketball and football. Bradley was awarded a special game ball signed by the coaches, complete with the season record since he will be moving up to tackle next year. Still not sure if I am ready for that....Red will be getting together in December to put a float in the Christmas parade - our coach has already made bets that our float will be way better than Purple's!

Second - basketball season is starting and I am coaching again. We look to have a very competitive team. I have been impressed with our boys so far - they have been working hard in our practices. Stay tuned for updates on this as our games should start the week of December 8.

Bradley's class has a big field trip to St. Augustine this Friday. He's been peppering me with historical questions about St. Augustine over the past few days. I'm pretty good with VA history, but definitely not so good on FL history. He's enjoying showing off his knowledge.

Purple Here We Come...

Bradley & Weston Connect

Garrett's TD

Dustin's TD Run

One down, one to go. Red routs Blue 21-0 this evening. The boys played great! Bradley connected with Weston on several passes, then hooked up with Garrett to set up our first TD play and then converted the 2 points. Later, Dustin broke free for an amazing run to set up our second TD. This was followed up in the second half by Garrett's interception and return for a TD. All the boys played a good game and had lots of fun - no doubt assisted by their "red" hair. We'll play Purple on Tuesday in the Championship Game. GO RED!!!

One Down...Two to Go

Red scores their first playoff win 20-6 over green. Bradley had a 40 yard run to set up the first touchdown and then ran in the extra point. His passing was on the money tonight! Later in the game he added a second extra point run. Our win was not as easy as the score might indicate. Red was heavily penalized during this game - especially the first half - something that we really haven't had problems with this year. I'm sure we'll correct that during practice tomorrow. Stay tuned as we play our second game on Thursday - not sure who we are playing since we play the winner of the second game for tonight.

We're also preparing for our first blast of cool weather - it will only be 70 for the next couple of days with lows in the upper 40s and low 50s. We might have to drag out the long johns!

Stay tuned for our next update.